These activities are best for your kinesthetic learners who learn best by being hands-on. These activities are best with small groups or whole class participation. (See below each activity for preparation and materials). In order to create classroom management (for all of these activities) talk with your students PRIOR to engaging in these activities about what the rules and expecations are. For ELL students or those with special needs, the activities may need to be modified to where the students have additional teacher or peer support. Hands-On Activities Hands-On Activities (www.education.com)
Word Family Bug Swat
Materials:
Fly swatter
Construction Paper
Scissors
Tape
Colored Markers
Basket
Notecards
1. Cut large bugs out of construction paper.
2. Print various word family rimes. (ELL, EAT, EST, IT, IN, ILL)
3. Tape these to the white board.
4. Print various words that these word families can be identified with. (bell, wheat, quest, knit, spin, chill)
5. Tape or glue these words onto notecards and mix them up into a basket.
6. Divide students into two teams (split the class in half).
7. Have one student from each group at a time come to the board and use a "Word Swatter" to hit the word family that the words belong in.
8. Example: Teacher randomly chooses the word "SPELL". Two students are at the board representing their "teams". The teacher will read the word "SPELL" out and whoever can swat the "ELL" bug first wins a point for their team.
Word Hunt
Materials:
Class set of clipboards
Paper
Pencils
1. Use word hunts to check for understanding after introducing a new word family or to review previously taught families.
2. Assign students one or two word families to search for in the classroom library.
3. For kindergarten or first-grade students, you might collect books with ample words ahead of time and place them in baskets or buckets. (Older students can be given more freedom to hunt throughout the entire classroom library or other designated area).
4. Challange students to finda certain number of words in a specified time.
5. Briefly meet with each student as they finish their list and have them read each word to you, noting the students who need help with decoding.
Nursery Rhymes
Materials:
Chart paper
Dry erase boards, markers, and erasers
Colored Markers
A rhyme, poem, or piece of literature
1. Use nursery rhymes, poetry or other literature to teach word families.
2. Create a large version of the rhyme on chart paper.
3. First, read it to the students all the way through.
4. Next, spend time analyzing the words.
5. Ask students to come up and circle words in a particular family.
6. Give students dry erase boards to record any word family words or ask them to identify the rhyming words.
7. Choose a volunteer to come up to the chart to point to the words as the class recites it together.
Flip Books
Materials:
2 inch by 8 inch long strip paper (class set)
2 inch by 2 inch squares (5 per student)
various sorts of colored markers
stapler
1. Create a flip book by giving each student a strip of paper approximately 2 inches wide by 8 inches long.
2. Staple about five 2-by-2-inch squares to one end of the strip.
3. Have students write the word family on the strip in large letters.
4. As students to write one consonant on each square to make different words in the family.
5. Given the -ill family might right beginning letters b, g, h, or sp.
6. Allow students to illustrate their flip books with the words that were created.
7. To assess, ask students to read their book to you or another adult.
Crazy Eights with Word Families
Materials:
Thick paper cut into playing card-sized rectangles
4 different colors of markers
1. Just like the card game Crazy Eights, you'll make a set of cards that can be divided into four different categories, rather than suits. Pick four word families that are challenging, but won't frustrate the student. For example, -it (split, sit, hit), -est (nest, rest, chest).
2. Pick an equal number of words from each word family and write them out with one word per card. You'll mix up the colors within a word family because you don't want any one word family to be all the same color. Use four different colors to write out the cards.
3. Have the child make a few “wild” cards, “skip your turn” cards, and “reverse” cards to add some challenging twists and turns to the game.
4. Now you'll deal out seven cards to each player. The rest of the cards should be stacked face-down in a neat stack in the center.
5. Flip one card over from the face-down stack in the center.
6. The object of the game is to try to match either the color or word family that appears on the face-up card in the middle. Therefore, if a red card bearing the word “nest” has been flipped, you'll either have to lay down a red card or a card that represents the “-est” word family. If you do not have a card to play, you must draw from the face-down stack until you find a card that can be played.
7. When any player gets down to just one card, they must say announce it to the other players by saying, "Hop!". If not, the other players may point out this failure to warn, and the said player will not be able to go out that round.
8. The winner of the game is the first player to run out of cards!
Word Slider
Materials:
5 or 6 small (dessert-size) paper plates, in one plain color
White or colored card stock paper, 8-1/2" x 11"
Scissors
Permanent marker
1. Make two, 1-inch cuts on each plate, parallel to one another.
2. To the right of the two parallel cuts, write a 2-letter word ending such as -in, -it.
3. As your child becomes more comfortable with reading, you can create more complex word endings with three or more letters such as -ell, -eat, -est, -ill.
4. Cut a strip from your card stock, approximately 1 inch wide and 8 inches long. Use a pencil to mark dividing lines at each one-inch interval.
5. Have your child write one consonant or a two-letter blend in each square, taking care to see that it goes with the ending you have picked. As he writes, have your child practice saying the letter sounds out loud.
6. Next, thread the letter strip through the two cuts on the plate, so that one letter shows at a time as you slide the strip through.
7. Repeat this process with the rest of the plates and card stock, using different consonants and endings.
8. Play around with your slider—children are usually delighted by the “magic” of the disappearing letters—and then keep it near a place where you and your child often read. The next time you sit down with an early reading book such as “Hop on Pop,” or “Pig in a Wig,” take out a slider first and have him practice those word families!
Word Family Flower
Materials:
Flower print-out
Scissors
Glue
Crayons
1. Print off a class set of a flower. (You can find these printable layouts online).
2. Have students print the word family of the week in the center of the flower. (If you want to teach more than one family, it would be a good idea to have each student work on a different one). (Example: "EST")
3. Have students print as many words as they can come up with that include the specific word family.
4. Have students color the flower.
5. Have students cut out the petal shapes and glue them around the center to make a "Word Family Flower".
6. Allow students to share and discuss.
Small Yogurt Container (keep the scoops of ice cream inside)
Construction Paper (any color)
Timer (with seconds)
Teacher Preparation:
1. Laminate all of the game pieces (ice cream cone, scoops of ice cream, score cards and both dice). Because the game pieces are laminated you can re-use the game several times. If you choose not to laminate the game pieces it may not last as long, but you students can still play the game without the pieces being laminated.
2. Cut out, fold and tape together the dice. You will find one dice to use with word families already written on it. The blank dice can be used to write any of the word families your students are in need of studying. If you laminate the dice and use a white board marker to write the word family, you can re-use the dice when students are ready to move on to a new word family. If you don’t want to laminate the dice, you can print it onto card stock and use a black pen or pencil to write the word family on the dice.
The 37 most common word families in English are: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk (Wylie and Durrell).
Students:
1. Cut out the ice cream cones, scoops of ice cream and score cards.
2. Cover the yogurt container with construction paper and tape the words “Ice Cream” on the side. Put the scoops of ice cream inside the container.
How to Play the Game:
1. Give Each Player One of the Following:
One Chocolate Rainbow Sprinkle Ice Cream Cone
One Score Card
Pencil or White Board Marker (if score card is covered with laminate).
2. Put All of the Following Materials on the Table:
Dictionary
Word Family Dice (Dice is filled in with a word family on each side. Use the example dice or create your own on the blank dice.)
Container of Ice Cream Scoops
Word Family Dice
Timer (to time seconds)
To determine the first player, roll the word family dice. The first player to roll “ice” starts the game.
In a clockwise direction, each player rolls the dice. After rolling the dice the player has 10-30 seconds (amount of seconds is determined by the teacher) to write a word in the appropriate word family. For example, is the word family is “all“, the student has to write a real word before time runs out. If the student wrote the word “call“, the word is correct, so he gets a scoop of icecream and puts in on his cone. If he wrote “jall” a student can say, “I scream you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” Saying this phrase means that you are being challenged and that you must look your word up in the dictionary. If it is not a real word, you don’t get a scoop of ice cream. If it is a word, you get to take a scoop of ice cream off of your challengers cone. If your challenger does not have a 2nd scoop of ice cream, he cannot challenge you. The teacher, however, can challenge you at any time.
The first player with 5 scoops of ice cream (4 correct words) wins.
Egg Word Family Game
Materials:
Various colors of plastic eggs.
Permanent Marker
Illustrations of words (pictures)
Dry erase boards
Dry erase board markers
1. Create an example. Use a permanent marker to write the ing rime onto the right hand side of the egg. Then, write an r, w, br and k on the left half of the egg. Left Right
wing
sting
ring
bring
2. Put a toy ring or a picture of a ring inside the egg.
3. When you are ready for instruction, twist each side of the egg to create a new word and say each word out loud.
4. Then spell each word as students repeat after you.
5. Students write each word on a white board as you show them the word. They hold the whiteboards up when finished.
6. Ask, ”What sound do all of these words share?” (Listen for a student to say the correct answer.) These words are in the ing word family.
7. Here’s the fun part. Ask the students,“What ing surprise word is inside of the egg?” (Students guess.)
8. Open the egg and show the students the ring.
Students Create Surprise Egg Word Family Game
9. After showing the students your example, the students can brainstorm words under each rime/word family on a poster board or overhead projector. Use this brainstorming as a means of instruction and let the students help create the words. Tell the student to decide on one word in the egg and tell them to draw a pictures or find an object representing that word inside each egg. (For example, for the ing egg, the surprise was a ring.) If the students complete six-seven rimes/word families a day it will take about six days to complete all of the common word families. Keep this poster or overhead transparency for the following day.
The next day, split the students into small groups and give each group an even number of eggs. Assign each group a word family to write on each egg.
1. After they write the word family, they need to choose one word and draw a picture of the word to put inside of the egg.
2. Students then close the eggs with the pictures of the words inside and writing on the outside.
Students Trade/Play Surprise Eggs
Rotate the groups of eggs to each group, until each group gets and opportunity to see each rime/word family and find the surprise inside each egg.
Beach Ball Word Families
Materials:
Beach ball
Marker
Small slips of paper
Tape
1. Write the rimes you would like your students to learn on the slips of paper. Attach the slips of the paper to the beach ball with tape. (Make sure the slips are secure!)
2. Have your students from a group of four. Give one student a beach ball.
3. The student with the beach ball goes first, tossing it to another student.
4. Have the student who catches the ball take note of where his or her thumb lands. Whichever rime the thumb lands on will be the rime he or she needs to use to make a word. (If the rime is -ock, for example, the word could be rock or sock.)
5. Which ever rime the thumb lands on will be the rime they need to make a word with. EX. If their thumb lands on -ock, a word could be stock.
6. Have your students continue to toss the ball and form words in this manner for as long as you want (you should at least make sure that all six rimes have been used).
Hands-On Activities & Lesson Plans
These activities are best for your kinesthetic learners who learn best by being hands-on. These activities are best with small groups or whole class participation. (See below each activity for preparation and materials). In order to create classroom management (for all of these activities) talk with your students PRIOR to engaging in these activities about what the rules and expecations are. For ELL students or those with special needs, the activities may need to be modified to where the students have additional teacher or peer support.Hands-On Activities
Hands-On Activities (www.education.com)
- Word Family Bug Swat
Materials:1. Cut large bugs out of construction paper.
2. Print various word family rimes. (ELL, EAT, EST, IT, IN, ILL)
3. Tape these to the white board.
4. Print various words that these word families can be identified with. (bell, wheat, quest, knit, spin, chill)
5. Tape or glue these words onto notecards and mix them up into a basket.
6. Divide students into two teams (split the class in half).
7. Have one student from each group at a time come to the board and use a "Word Swatter" to hit the word family that the words belong in.
8. Example: Teacher randomly chooses the word "SPELL". Two students are at the board representing their "teams". The teacher will read the word "SPELL" out and whoever can swat the "ELL" bug first wins a point for their team.
- Word Hunt
Materials:- Class set of clipboards
- Paper
- Pencils
1. Use word hunts to check for understanding after introducing a new word family or to review previously taught families.2. Assign students one or two word families to search for in the classroom library.
3. For kindergarten or first-grade students, you might collect books with ample words ahead of time and place them in baskets or buckets. (Older students can be given more freedom to hunt throughout the entire classroom library or other designated area).
4. Challange students to finda certain number of words in a specified time.
5. Briefly meet with each student as they finish their list and have them read each word to you, noting the students who need help with decoding.
- Nursery Rhymes
Materials:- Chart paper
- Dry erase boards, markers, and erasers
- Colored Markers
- A rhyme, poem, or piece of literature
1. Use nursery rhymes, poetry or other literature to teach word families.2. Create a large version of the rhyme on chart paper.
3. First, read it to the students all the way through.
4. Next, spend time analyzing the words.
5. Ask students to come up and circle words in a particular family.
6. Give students dry erase boards to record any word family words or ask them to identify the rhyming words.
7. Choose a volunteer to come up to the chart to point to the words as the class recites it together.
- Flip Books
Materials:1. Create a flip book by giving each student a strip of paper approximately 2 inches wide by 8 inches long.
2. Staple about five 2-by-2-inch squares to one end of the strip.
3. Have students write the word family on the strip in large letters.
4. As students to write one consonant on each square to make different words in the family.
5. Given the -ill family might right beginning letters b, g, h, or sp.
6. Allow students to illustrate their flip books with the words that were created.
7. To assess, ask students to read their book to you or another adult.
- Crazy Eights with Word Families
Materials:1. Just like the card game Crazy Eights, you'll make a set of cards that can be divided into four different categories, rather than suits. Pick four word families that are challenging, but won't frustrate the student. For example, -it (split, sit, hit), -est (nest, rest, chest).
2. Pick an equal number of words from each word family and write them out with one word per card. You'll mix up the colors within a word family because you don't want any one word family to be all the same color. Use four different colors to write out the cards.
3. Have the child make a few “wild” cards, “skip your turn” cards, and “reverse” cards to add some challenging twists and turns to the game.
4. Now you'll deal out seven cards to each player. The rest of the cards should be stacked face-down in a neat stack in the center.
5. Flip one card over from the face-down stack in the center.
6. The object of the game is to try to match either the color or word family that appears on the face-up card in the middle. Therefore, if a red card bearing the word “nest” has been flipped, you'll either have to lay down a red card or a card that represents the “-est” word family. If you do not have a card to play, you must draw from the face-down stack until you find a card that can be played.
7. When any player gets down to just one card, they must say announce it to the other players by saying, "Hop!". If not, the other players may point out this failure to warn, and the said player will not be able to go out that round.
8. The winner of the game is the first player to run out of cards!
- Word Slider
Materials:1. Make two, 1-inch cuts on each plate, parallel to one another.
2. To the right of the two parallel cuts, write a 2-letter word ending such as -in, -it.
3. As your child becomes more comfortable with reading, you can create more complex word endings with three or more letters such as -ell, -eat, -est, -ill.
4. Cut a strip from your card stock, approximately 1 inch wide and 8 inches long. Use a pencil to mark dividing lines at each one-inch interval.
5. Have your child write one consonant or a two-letter blend in each square, taking care to see that it goes with the ending you have picked. As he writes, have your child practice saying the letter sounds out loud.
6. Next, thread the letter strip through the two cuts on the plate, so that one letter shows at a time as you slide the strip through.
7. Repeat this process with the rest of the plates and card stock, using different consonants and endings.
8. Play around with your slider—children are usually delighted by the “magic” of the disappearing letters—and then keep it near a place where you and your child often read. The next time you sit down with an early reading book such as “Hop on Pop,” or “Pig in a Wig,” take out a slider first and have him practice those word families!
- Word Family Flower
Materials:1. Print off a class set of a flower. (You can find these printable layouts online).
2. Have students print the word family of the week in the center of the flower. (If you want to teach more than one family, it would be a good idea to have each student work on a different one). (Example: "EST")
3. Have students print as many words as they can come up with that include the specific word family.
4. Have students color the flower.
5. Have students cut out the petal shapes and glue them around the center to make a "Word Family Flower".
6. Allow students to share and discuss.
- Icecream Word Family Game
Materials:Teacher Preparation:
1. Laminate all of the game pieces (ice cream cone, scoops of ice cream, score cards and both dice). Because the game pieces are laminated you can re-use the game several times. If you choose not to laminate the game pieces it may not last as long, but you students can still play the game without the pieces being laminated.
2. Cut out, fold and tape together the dice. You will find one dice to use with word families already written on it. The blank dice can be used to write any of the word families your students are in need of studying. If you laminate the dice and use a white board marker to write the word family, you can re-use the dice when students are ready to move on to a new word family. If you don’t want to laminate the dice, you can print it onto card stock and use a black pen or pencil to write the word family on the dice.
The 37 most common word families in English are: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk (Wylie and Durrell).
Students:
1. Cut out the ice cream cones, scoops of ice cream and score cards.
2. Cover the yogurt container with construction paper and tape the words “Ice Cream” on the side. Put the scoops of ice cream inside the container.
How to Play the Game:
1. Give Each Player One of the Following:- One Chocolate Rainbow Sprinkle Ice Cream Cone
- One Score Card
- Pencil or White Board Marker (if score card is covered with laminate).
2. Put All of the Following Materials on the Table:- Dictionary
- Word Family Dice (Dice is filled in with a word family on each side. Use the example dice or create your own on the blank dice.)
- Container of Ice Cream Scoops
- Word Family Dice
- Timer (to time seconds)
To determine the first player, roll the word family dice. The first player to roll “ice” starts the game.In a clockwise direction, each player rolls the dice. After rolling the dice the player has 10-30 seconds (amount of seconds is determined by the teacher) to write a word in the appropriate word family. For example, is the word family is “all“, the student has to write a real word before time runs out. If the student wrote the word “call“, the word is correct, so he gets a scoop of icecream and puts in on his cone. If he wrote “jall” a student can say, “I scream you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” Saying this phrase means that you are being challenged and that you must look your word up in the dictionary. If it is not a real word, you don’t get a scoop of ice cream. If it is a word, you get to take a scoop of ice cream off of your challengers cone. If your challenger does not have a 2nd scoop of ice cream, he cannot challenge you. The teacher, however, can challenge you at any time.
The first player with 5 scoops of ice cream (4 correct words) wins.
- Egg Word Family Game
Materials:- Various colors of plastic eggs.
- Permanent Marker
Illustrations of words (pictures)- Dry erase boards
- Dry erase board markers
1. Create an example. Use a permanent marker to write the ing rime onto the right hand side of the egg. Then, write an r, w, br and k on the left half of the egg.Left Right
wing
sting
ring
bring
2. Put a toy ring or a picture of a ring inside the egg.
3. When you are ready for instruction, twist each side of the egg to create a new word and say each word out loud.
4. Then spell each word as students repeat after you.
5. Students write each word on a white board as you show them the word. They hold the whiteboards up when finished.
6. Ask, ”What sound do all of these words share?” (Listen for a student to say the correct answer.) These words are in the ing word family.
7. Here’s the fun part. Ask the students,“What ing surprise word is inside of the egg?” (Students guess.)
8. Open the egg and show the students the ring.
Students Create Surprise Egg Word Family Game
9. After showing the students your example, the students can brainstorm words under each rime/word family on a poster board or overhead projector. Use this brainstorming as a means of instruction and let the students help create the words. Tell the student to decide on one word in the egg and tell them to draw a pictures or find an object representing that word inside each egg. (For example, for the ing egg, the surprise was a ring.) If the students complete six-seven rimes/word families a day it will take about six days to complete all of the common word families. Keep this poster or overhead transparency for the following day.The next day, split the students into small groups and give each group an even number of eggs. Assign each group a word family to write on each egg.
1. After they write the word family, they need to choose one word and draw a picture of the word to put inside of the egg.
2. Students then close the eggs with the pictures of the words inside and writing on the outside.
Students Trade/Play Surprise Eggs
Rotate the groups of eggs to each group, until each group gets and opportunity to see each rime/word family and find the surprise inside each egg.- Beach Ball Word Families
Materials:- Beach ball
- Marker
- Small slips of paper
- Tape
1. Write the rimes you would like your students to learn on the slips of paper. Attach the slips of the paper to the beach ball with tape. (Make sure the slips are secure!)2. Have your students from a group of four. Give one student a beach ball.
3. The student with the beach ball goes first, tossing it to another student.
4. Have the student who catches the ball take note of where his or her thumb lands. Whichever rime the thumb lands on will be the rime he or she needs to use to make a word. (If the rime is -ock, for example, the word could be rock or sock.)
5. Which ever rime the thumb lands on will be the rime they need to make a word with. EX. If their thumb lands on -ock, a word could be stock.
6. Have your students continue to toss the ball and form words in this manner for as long as you want (you should at least make sure that all six rimes have been used).